In recent years, considerable effort has been expended with respect to the development of agricultural machines which dig and distribute peanut plants on a field in windrows so that the crop may be cured or dried prior to further processing as by a peanut combine. In particular, various techniques for causing the peanut plants to be deposited in inverted condition in windrows have been developed in machines known as digger-shaker-inverter machines. Such machines first dig the peanut plants by severing the root system below the peanut pods, subject the plants to a shaking action to remove the soil and then turn the plants upside down in a window so that foliage supports the peanut pods in uppermost, exposed condition. The chief advantages of inverting the plants are that it promotes faster and more uniform drying of the peanut pods, reduces time in the windrow so that there is less risk of damage from inclement weather, minimizes damage to the peanuts if rain does occur during windrow drying, provides a less favorable environment for mold formation during the windrow period, promotes cooler kernel temperatures as compared with peanut pods in contact with the soil, and lessens harvesting field losses.
However, as with any machine, digger-shaker-inverters are not entirely free from disadvantages or problems. In these machines, two basic approaches to accomplish the inversion are employed. One approach involves grasping the tops or foliage of the plants and turning them upside down in a positive manner whereas the other basic approach involves elevating the plants and then constraining them to roll over as they fall under the influence of gravity. Regardless of the approach employed, variations in the type of soil and in soil conditions such as moisture content, and the presence of weeds or grass can create problems.
For example, when the inverting devices involve mechanism with fingers or other protrusions or teeth with which foilage can easily become entangled, the problem of binding up or clogging can easily occur particularly if there are large amounts of weeds or grass intermingled with the root crop. Further, the soil will cling to the plant roots more or less depending upon the moisture content and type of the soil. Consequently, under some circumstances the plants will be cleaned sufficiently in the usual shaker section of the machine whereas in other cases they will not be cleaned sufficiently in this section of the machine. The inverting section of the machine may or may not appreciably augment the cleaning action and there is always the danger that the shaking, agitating or other cleaning action may be too violent such as tends to shake the peanuts loose from the plant, allowing them to drop back onto the field where they have no chance of recovery.